Devanagari
मत्तं प्रमत्तमुन्मत्तं सुप्तं बालं स्त्रियं जडम् ।
प्रपन्नं विरथं भीतं न रिपुं हन्ति धर्मवित् ॥ ३६ ॥
Verse text
mattaṁ pramattam unmattaṁ
suptaṁ bālaṁ striyaṁ jaḍam
prapannaṁ virathaṁ bhītaṁ
na ripuṁ hanti dharma-vit
Synonyms
mattam
—
careless
;
pramattam
—
intoxicated
;
unmattam
—
insane
;
suptam
—
asleep
;
bālam
—
boy
;
striyam
—
woman
;
jaḍam
—
foolish
;
prapannam
—
surrendered
;
viratham
—
one who has lost his chariot
;
bhītam
—
afraid
;
na
—
not
;
ripum
—
enemy
;
hanti
—
kill
;
dharma
—
vit — one who knows the principles of religion .
Translation
A person who knows the principles of religion does not kill an enemy who is careless, intoxicated, insane, asleep, afraid or devoid of his chariot. Nor does he kill a boy, a woman, a foolish creature or a surrendered soul.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The knower of dharma does not kill an enemy who is a drunkard, or who is inattentive, insane, sleeping, young, a female, immobilized, surrendered, without chariot, or afraid.
Purport
An enemy who does not resist is never killed by a warrior who knows the principles of religion. Formerly battles were fought on the
principles of religion
and not for the sake of sense gratification. If the enemy happened to be intoxicated, asleep, etc., as above mentioned, he was never to be killed. These are some of the codes of religious war. Formerly war was never declared by the whims of selfish political leaders; it was carried out on religious principles free from all vices. Violence carried out on religious principles is far superior to so-called nonviolence.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Mattam means intoxicated because of liquor etc. Pramattam means inattentive. Unmattam means crazy because of planetary influences or disturbance of vāta in the body.